[Introduced January 8, 2014; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]

____________

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §47-27-1, §47-27-2,
§47-27-3, §47-27-4, §47-27-5 and §47-27-6, all relating to
creating the West Virginia Firearms Freedom Act; exempting
firearms, a firearm accessory or ammunition manufactured and
retained in West Virginia from federal regulation under the
Commerce Clause of the Constitution of the United States;
providing short title; legislative declarations of authority;
providing definitions; prohibitions; exceptions; and marketing
of firearms.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §47-27-1, §47-27-2,
§47-27-3, §47-27-4, §47-27-5 and §47-27-6, all to read as follows:

ARTICLE 27. WEST VIRGINIA FIREARMS FREEDOM ACT.

§47-27-1.Short title.

This article may be cited as the "West Virginia Firearms
Freedom Act.”

§47-27-2.Legislative declarations of authority.

The Legislature declares that the authority for this section
is as follows:

(a) The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to
the federal government elsewhere in the Constitution and reserves
to the state and people of West Virginia certain powers as they
were understood at the time that West Virginia was admitted to
statehood in 1863. The guaranty of those powers is a matter of
contract between the state and people of West Virginia and the
United States as of the time that the compact with the United
States was agreed upon and adopted by West Virginia and the United
States in 1863.

(b) The Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution
guarantees to the people rights not granted in the Constitution and
reserves to the people of West Virginia certain rights as they were
understood at the time that West Virginia was admitted to statehood
in 1863. The guaranty of those rights is a matter of contract
between the state and people of West Virginia and the United States
as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed
upon and adopted by West Virginia and the United States in 1863.

(c) The regulation of intrastate commerce is vested in the
states under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the United States
Constitution.

(d) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
reserves to the people the right to keep and bear arms as that
right was understood at the time that West Virginia was admitted to
statehood in 1863, and the guaranty of the right is a matter of
contract between the state and people of West Virginia and the
United States as of the time that the compact with the United
States was agreed upon and adopted by West Virginia and the United
States in 1863.

(e) Article III, Section 22 of the West Virginia Constitution
clearly secures to West Virginia citizens, and prohibits government
interference with, the right of individual West Virginia citizens
to keep and bear arms.

§47-27-3.Definitions.

As used in this article, the following definitions apply:

(a) "Borders of West Virginia" means the boundaries of West
Virginia described in Article II, Section 1 of the 1872 West
Virginia Constitution.

(b) "Firearms accessories" means items that are used in
conjunction with or mounted upon a firearm but are not essential to
the basic function of a firearm, including, but not limited to,
telescopic or laser sights, magazines, flash or sound suppressors,
folding or aftermarket stocks and grips, speedloaders, ammunition
carriers and lights for target illumination.

(c) "Generic and insignificant parts" includes, but is not
limited to, springs, screws, nuts and pins.

(d) "Manufactured" means that a firearm, a firearm accessory
or ammunition has been created from basic materials for functional
usefulness, including, but not limited to, forging, casting,
machining, or other processes for working materials or assembled
into a complete functional device from component parts.

§47-27-4.Prohibitions.

A personal firearm, a firearm accessory or ammunition that is
manufactured commercially or privately in West Virginia and that
remains within the borders of West Virginia is not subject to
federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under
the authority of Congress to regulate interstate commerce. It is
declared by the Legislature that those items have not traveled in
interstate commerce.

This section applies to a firearm, a firearm accessory or
ammunition that is manufactured in West Virginia from basic
materials and that can be manufactured without the inclusion of any
significant parts imported from another state. Generic and
insignificant parts that have other manufacturing or consumer
product applications are not firearms, firearms accessories or
ammunition and their importation into West Virginia and
incorporation into a firearm, a firearm accessory or ammunition
manufactured in West Virginia does not subject the firearm, firearm
accessory or ammunition to federal regulation. It is declared by
the Legislature that basic materials, such as unmachined steel and
unshaped wood, are not firearms, firearms accessories or ammunition
and are not subject to congressional authority to regulate
firearms, firearms accessories and ammunition under the interstate
commerce as if they were actually firearms, firearms accessories or
ammunition. The authority of Congress to regulate interstate
commerce in basic materials does not include authority to regulate
firearms, firearms accessories and ammunition made in West Virginia
from those materials. Firearms accessories that are imported into
West Virginia from another state and that are subject to federal
regulation as being in interstate commerce do not subject a firearm
to federal regulation under interstate commerce because they are
attached to or used in conjunction with a firearm in West Virginia.

§47-27-5. Exceptions.

Section two of this article does not apply to:

(a) A firearm that cannot be carried and used by one person;

(b) A firearm that has a bore diameter greater than one and
one-half inches and that uses smokeless powder, not black powder,
as a propellant;

(c) Ammunition with a projectile that explodes using an
explosion of chemical energy after the projectile leaves the
firearm; or

(d) Excepting shotguns, a firearm that discharges two or more
projectiles with one activation of the trigger or other firing
device.

§47-27-6. Marketing of firearms.

A firearm manufactured in West Virginia under the provisions
of this section must have the words "Made in West Virginia" clearly
stamped on a central metallic part, such as the receiver or frame.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt firearms, a
firearm accessory, or ammunition manufactured and retained in West
Virginia, from Federal regulation under the Commerce Clause of the
Constitution of the United States.

This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.